Daily news and top headlines for broadband communications engineering and design professionals

Members of the gang that helped create CCAP and DOCSIS 3.1 have already moved on to the next thing. Ready for digital forward links, remote PHY, and the next next-generation architecture network (N2GAN)? Also, updates on the Reference Developer Kit and the Converged Cable Access Platform, and more.

Stephanie Mitchko-Beale, senior vice president of video infrastructure software at Cablevision Systems, has led engineering teams that helped establish Cablevision’s high-speed data product, built support systems for video on demand, and worked on the company’s ground-breaking network DVR (nDVR) services, helping Cablevision win several technical Emmy's along the way.

Many wonder how today’s HFC networks will support high order modulations such as 4096-QAM. There are two technologies in the DOCSIS 3.1 specification that will enable this. One is Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (COFDM) and the other low-density parity-check (LDPC) forward error correction. LDPC is the “C” (coded) part in COFDM.

The reactions to Netflix have varied throughout the cable industry. Some are irritated by a competitor highjacking their broadband pipes for free. Others see Netflix augmenting the value of their broadband product or as a complement or add-on to their own video services. Both can be true.

Aside from the demand for video more content “anytime, anywhere, on any device,” broadband penetration and the migration to IP are also terraforming the home networking landscape. One area that is emerging is cloud DVR, which allows subscribers to store content from their DVRs in the cloud, or more accurately, in data centers.

In 2014, CED willcelebrate its 40th year covering...well, an expanding universe of things. Forty years ago, CED had a tidy little focus covering the infant cable TV business, but in the intervening decades, cable companies moved into telephony and Internet access and business services and wireless connectivity and home automation and more.

TV Everywhere is an imperative for MSOs, but like all new services, it poses several challenges as operators strive to ensure quality while simultaneously expanding their multi-screen deployments. Unlike traditional linear MPEG-2 services, TV Everywhere relies on the H.264 codec coupled with adaptive bit rate (ABR) streaming. Unsurprisingly, these new technologies pose quality concerns.

There are grand and vocal disagreements flying about today as governments and private parties square off over the supposed usefulness of next-generation networks capable of hurtling digital data to everyday consumers at speeds of 1 gigabit per second or faster. Skeptics argue investing in super-fast networks is folly.

I once heard a boss referred to as “leaves”. He went beyond “not being able to see the forest for the trees.” He couldn’t even see the trees for the leaves! But as the boss, his ideas had to be explored and even implemented. Most failed, but that was expected. He was involved in the early days of the organization and, as such, gained a position from which no one was able to dislodge him.

December 3, 2013 6:58 pm |
by Mark Dzuban, President and CEO of the SCTE |
Comments

Who better to turn to for advice on that than General Colin Powell? The Leadership Primer from the former Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff is “must” reading: not just for those in the position of building teams and driving change, but for the broader workforce as well.

There has been a lot of regulatory activity since the FCC adopted its revised White Spaces rules in 2010, but not much marketplace activity. The FCC allows unlicensed low power transmitters to operate on “White Spaces”—TV band frequencies that are not being used by TV stations or other licensed transmitters.

Cable MSOs are ready for fierce competition. They are making significant investments in their network infrastructure to be positioned for a high-bandwidth, mobile-integrated, multi-screen world. In this world, digital distribution is as important a line of business as traditional linear broadcast, so. MSOs are increasing investment in on-demand, next-generation broadband services as well as improved customer experience.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller is planning a bill that aims to give upstart online video services the chance to compete on an equal footing with classic MVPDs by guaranteeing their rights to content. Furthermore, online video distributors would gain standing to compete directly with established pay TV companies as MVPDs.